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County News VOL 4 NO 203 OBERLIN OHIO WEDNESDAY JAN 20 1864 150 TER AMUM B mm county PUBLISHED AT OBEKLIN OHIO BY V A SHANKLAND Terms of Siilciiplioii Ouo Year 150 Six Months Three Mouths 50 BUSINESS DIRECTORY V A S8IArVKlAD Book andJohPrintirand Publi Baildin Oberlin For terms lisoinulton loiirlli page ler 1KeW8 ace aiver l1JN5SE HOUSE norner of Main and Coll Streets O borlin LW Tool Kropn olor Boarding by the day or week COMMERCIAL INSTITUTE iind I mi r X O 1VS Buddies Oberlin O Sou dvennsouiont CALltlNS rrincipal t 15 W A WiiAKi Teachers Sneiiorian practical and oniamon till penmanship Commercial Chirographic Institute Oberlin O t ze Stret Pl iiin anil Snrircon East Colli L3r Lilo and Fire Insurance Agent ROBERTS BAILEY Auonevs and Counsellors at Law Office over Hove Vs slure uunm D hi Roberts O O Bailey Jr Banker Broker and Pension Ageut loCollegc Place Oberlin B PRENTISS Julkc of lic Vnce B ick Pay Boil u tv Pension Collecting and In stirauco Agent ud lour South or Hoveyi Store Oberlin O I M JOHNSON CO Dealers in Dry Goods Groceries Hardware Crockery Produce etc No 1 Merchants Ex haue Main St Oberlin Ohio See Adv KINNEY BEAMIER Doalersin Dry Giods Groceries Crockery Hardware etc On in Ohio See Adv na Straus Dealer in Ready made Jb thing Foreign and ii iw a Cdolis Cassimeros Milli nery Goods Purs Yankee Notions otc See Advertisement c E J iiJIKACU ni Knnls statinnorv Pictures Picture Frames Wall Papur oVc Corner Main and Col legoSlroels OherhnO J M FITCH Bookseller and Stationer and Dealor in Picuros Picture Frames Wall Paper and a ruat variety o f goods suitable to luatrade Oberlin Ohio A 43 PLilT Photographist Third Story corner of Main and College Sts Oberlin H L HENRY Doalerin Drugs Medicines c Oborlin O See Advertisement I HABUNCE Doalerin Druis Medicines c Oborlin O See Advertisement It 83 Urrisl iSt Grocer Main St Oberlin O p Physicians proscriptions eureluliy com pounded J F SlDDALL Union Block Oborlin iJenvist Ohio FRANK HENDRY laler in Clocks Watches Jewelry Musical lilraoieuts s 1 1 i r w are ecwo jnj F nicy China Ware on Union Blook Oberlin O heeau erliseuient lllnrin Clocks Watches J welry Silver Ware Sp los and Fancy Goods ObernH WH IIOVEY Dealer in Groceries Flour Provisions Hard ware C COltlllll rcial Block Oberlin j i AiPSirvaEis Grocer Cnnleti r llealur in Provisions Flour Feed etc c No I Union Block Oberlin A V BSiJiDMIiSi Flour Merchant and Doalerin Groceries and Provisions g lore One Door South Goodrichs Book JOHN BRICE Commission Merchant Tailor and Practical Culler Well in ule Clothing alwayson hand WEED BECKWITH Stoves Tin Slice Iron and Hardware Matn Street Oberlin ItOVlE SBANtOCK M nnfartiuers Dealers ill Ladies and Gents Boots aud Stioes No I Union Block Oberlin WM BAILEY llealorln Boots Shoesaid Hubbors Custom Work made to order Nrlli Main St Oberlin P R TO BIN i tuie and Harness Maker aud Dealer in Trunks Valiws Carpet Ba South Main Street Oberlin horse See advertisement Whips etc i ol tho big JAM Hnpp4 Saddle Trunk sCarnot Dags Hub be r Clothing Buffalo KobestVi Main St Oberlin J I KUStKlilL Moat Market Fresh and Salt Meats Fish fcc Cash for Hides and Polls Main Street Oberlin ISAAC PE N FIELD wmn Made and Repaired and Blacksmith llg to order cor Main and Water at 9 Oberlin C H FAVFI Stablo Keener Has constnntV on hand ttood II rses and Carriages All order lea with him will oe promptly attended to Olllce News Building Main Street Oberlin V V IVJAltliS Livcrv and Boarding Stable A Nol Horses andCarri ie t0 let East Cidleffe St Oberlin S BEDORTHA Maker and doalerin Furniture Readymade Collins Ac South ilain treel Oberlin H EVANS BROTHER Gen iral Uadnrlakers aud Cabinet Makersanil Dealers in Forniuire Obnrliu WATERMAN St PEEK Mnniiiifaelurers of Doom Sash Blinds and roi Work and Builders Oberlin Planing and Shingle Mill tawing donctoorer Soul n Mai n St Obori i n Book Binder tills Clack College StOborln The MotherChurch Br JOHN JAMES PIATT I felt the organ tremor sweet Homeless wilhin iho Sabbath street It whispered low and deep and mild Come home thou weary wandering chile1 Lost in the wilderness and dust Of Pride and Folly and Mistrust Weary and worldsad east away Thy Father calls thee home today Within the churchs portal wide I entered and the muic died Without the organ tremor sweet Within the fierce polemic heat I heard the subtle voice no more Whoso music called me through the door I passed into the woodland air Strange breezes kissed me everywhere Strange birds from out tho boughs above Sang sistersweet to me a dovo Cood close and quiet and her nest Some stiango sweet dove made in my breast When lo 1 the organs whisper mild Come home tltou weary wandering child Weary and worldsad catt away Thy Fathor calls thee homo today I felt the organ tremor sweet The pure flowers kissed my homeless feet And a sweet intluence close and tree Twined arms around me lovingly Lost in the wood alone and there The organs pulses beat the air Till in my heart a voice I caught I am thy Mother long unsought Thou orphan from thine earliest day n the worlds dt less dust astray My arms have waited long for thee Thy Father called thee homo to mo Commonwealth A Letter from Prof Peck Our readers will peruse withinterest the following letter written by Proiessor Peck to the Cleveland Hearld Washington Jan 2 1864 Dear Herald This morning I dispatched a letter to you giving a rambling account of the appearance of things at Portress Monroe aud in Norfolk I propose at this writing to tell you in the same discursive way of what I saw and heard among the Ohio soldiers near Norfolk Late on Thursday afternoon Dec 24th I reached the 5th llegiinent U S Colored Troops which was lying in the entrenched camp about three miles southeast ofNorfolk The 5 til was raised as you know in Ohio Three ot thetaptains are from Cleveland or itsimmediate neighborhood and several of the officers are graduates orstudents of Oberlin College Thisregiment belongs to Gen Wildes Brig ade the rank wholly made aud file of which is up of colored men The 5th is the only regiment in the brigade from the North J he other troops brigaded with it are from among the contrabands of the South The brigade had come in from a Ion and hard raid iuto North Carolina only the afternoon betore I reached the camp of the oth As the story ot this expedition isessential to the continuity of mynarrative let me tell it here Thecountry an irregular parallelogram in shape which is bounded by James river on the North the Atlantic Ocean on the East Albermarle Sound on the South and theDismal Swamp and Elizabeth river on the West is inhabited mainly by rank secessionists manyof whom are wealthy and is or has been the harboring place of pestilentguerrillas who have done much mischief to the iew Union people and to the neighboring lines of Federalcommunications Early in December Gen Butler ordered Wildes brig ade to ko out and regulate this unwholesome region The orders given to Gen Wiklo were explicit and strongly Butlerish lie was to liberate and bring in all the slaves he might find confiscate all the live stock vehicles and fanning utensils of secessionists and hang allguerrillas whom ho should capture The housos barns and stacks ofguerrillas were to be burned The brigade went joyfully to its work For nineteen days it forgot the toils of a desperately hard march and the pains ot sleeping without a rag or a sliver fur shelter so deeply was it engaged in its work olreconstruction and redemption Several times detachments ot tho atli were under fire In one encounter with guerrillas a single company lost five dead and one wounded But inevery case the men behaved likeveterans They formed under fire when they were surprised aseooly as if they were falling iu for drill and scv oral times they charged uponconcealed foes without the least sign of faltering Many of our boys were originally from North Carulina and they mightily enjoyed the privilege of coming back in tho army ofEmancipation On quo occasion au old slave declined going with theliberators unless his mother and his child who were some miles away could go also AccordinglySergcat Grimes was detailed to go with four men and bring her in On the way Grimes learned from his guide just how many slaves and how much live stock there were on theplantation to which he was going When he reached the white house he told the master his errand The master flew into a rane called him all sorts of names and tald him to be off This was too much for Grimes So putting his pistol to Mr Masters head he said You old villain now Ill take every thing youve got so bring on all your people and live Stock or 1 11 blow your brains out Tho threat brought the master ti terms and after night fall when everybody had given up Grimes as lost he came back into camp bring ing thirtyfive contrabands and a long string of horses mules and carts In the course of the raid the de tachment was piloted by a contraband into a swamp where a mile and a half from shore with no path but a r ii l M sinrrle line or ienea trees witu a loufrh waist deep on each side il found a rruerrilla camp The birds had flown from the nest but they left behind a muster roll of the omDanv This roll was an excel lent chart for the raiders and with in three days not a man whose name was on that list had house barn shed or rack left One guerrilla was caritured A court marshal found him guilty and sentenced him to be hung Five minuts were given him to makepreparation for his ond Then he was put on the scaffold Lieut Colonel Shurtleff was asked by theGeneral to make a prayer and us the amen left the Colonels lips the block was knocked from under the fall and the guerrilla hung in midair When the end had come Gen Wilde pinned to the back of the dead man a placard with the inscription This guerrilla was hung by order of Brig Gen ii A Wilde The expedition filled the secesh with terrir and raae One Ohio colored bv was captured by them and it is supposed was murdered on the spot By way of reprisal the wife of the Captain of the guerrilla company was taken prisoner and the Captain was informed under a flag of truce that the lady would suffer tho fate of the boy whatever it might be The Captain replied that the prisoner had been sent to Raleigh but that he should be brought back if it was possible The woman is now in prison in Norfolk and will surely go to the gallows if the boy is not soon accounted for General Butler is determined that thecolored troops under his command shall have the usual military rights at all events He will before long find the hemp which will make the secesh sick of murdering or selling into slavery the men they capture from him The expedition captured one thousand horses and mulesconfiscated miles of wagons and carts ami liberated Iwenlyfice hundred slaves The trip made without baggage wagons and tents and with but few blankets was a severe trial to the men But tho test was borne well Old officers who belonged to theexpedition said that white troops could not have endured the hardships bet ter Still there was an observabl di flo re nee between the regiments Tho msa from the North showed both on the road nd in the field better qualities than those exhibited by their contraband kindred My visit to the camp came just in the right time I was able arriving as I did to see the men while the marks of hardship were on them and to brins from homo the word of cheev ard encouragement which they needed Col Conine ordered the companies out aud a3 they stood iu hollow square with their colors in the center I made a short address to them In the name of the people and Goveuor of the State I thanked them for what they had done I told them that those hardships and this heroic service were not onlyadvancing the cause of the State but were doing what hardly anything else could to lift up the race to which so many of them belonged Ibesought them to be true to themselves and to allow their colors now so beautiful to bo tarnished by nodishonor and assured them that should they come back to Ohio with their whole record so honorable as its first chapter had been they would have welcome of which the noblest might well be proud At the close m recognition of what I had said as to Gov Todsinterest in the regiment tho colors waved a salute rolling off from the irumsand three cheers for the Gov enor went to the skies Ah Herald how quickly the happy scene carried my thoughts back to that glad morning when over the hill which overlooked the Kanawha gave for the people of the Reserve the colors to the grand old Seventh how swiftly I was hurried down the current of that history which has Winchester Port Repub lie Cedar Mountain Chancellorsville Antietam Gettysburg and Ilinggold for its way marks to that sad end when tho scarred lew which were left of the regiment sent its leaders home for burial I said in my heart alas shall two short years see these ranks thinned to an hundred and these colors rent by the storm ofbattle hung in mourning above thecoffins of their chivalrous leaders The next day I went through the regiment and in the little huts herd the men tell of their trials and achievements and told them what I noped for from them Perhaps I err but I cannot but believe that theintercourse inppired in many hearts sentiments which will lona abide and bo useful On the Sabdath I held public ser vice in the camp and I doubt if any regiment ever turned out creater proportion of hearers or if any hearers were ever more atten tive I had in my congregation be sides the officers and men of the 5th detachment from the 55th Massa ehasetts feolored in which were many Ohio boys connected with New York battery After service the battery boys came forward and we had a crood talk about the dear old State far away A brother could nothavehad kind er treatment than I had in the quar ters of the officers of the 5th Long shall I remember the cheery chats by the cozy lightwood fires and the pleasant callops over the sandyVirginia roads By the way Herald even my old pupils kept calling mo Colonel Probably the lapsus linguae was the natural result of my riding so much as I did with a military spur on my heel Adjutant Grabills caparisoned horse Aud here I make the prophecy that the 5th colored thouarh its men are will be one of the retriments of which Ohio will be most proud Ifj the prophecy fails it will be because for oneo good officers and good men do not ensure good deeds I spent the most of Monday with a company of Ohio men which is incorporated in the 11th PennCavalry The men are from Crawford Wyandotte Meigs and Gallia They arc stout honest fellows and arc a credit to our State I wish you could have seen how comfortable the shrewd chaps have madethemselves in their snug winter quarters I would not like to guess how many houses conservatories o the rogues had plundered to givethemrelves good shelter Such computa tions are not in place ou the front of war I must not end the story of my visit to the camp without speaking of the beautiful little church which the Chaplain had caused to beorccted The structure was built wholly of poles and shooks There vras not ja piece of sawed timber in it except tho doors aDd sash oven the sash were made of pieces of cracker box es But the rude materials were disposed with such artistic skill that the effect was most striking There is not a Gothic place of prayer on Euclid or Prospect street which would invite much longer study I am only sorry that the chaplain had provided sittings for only an hundred and fifty men The suggestion that the ballanee of tho twelve hundred normally in tho regiment did not feel the need of worship was rather painful But I venture to hope that the Ohio boys are a reliable part of the chaplains staunch one hundred and fifty As I went to and from the camp of tho 11th I passed a score of the little two wheeled carts which are the universal family vehicles of the country In several of them a single ox was harnessed With one of these single teams we had quite a race The young contraband who was driving the horned horse seemed determined not to have even a Government team pass him si he put on the whijs and his cudchewing steed got into a fair gallop But it was of no avail our uags soon put the inspiring rival into the rear Old times said I to myself you are not smart enough The new will lead you And Herald is not the new life of the country with its freedom and improvement fast distancing the old with its slavery and deterioration Think of it and olbige Yours truly II E PECK The Divers with our Fleet Charleston During a recent visit to Port lloyal I witnessed withconsiderable interest the operation of thedivers employed to clean the bottoms of the monitors and perform other operations under water Messrs Joseph II Smith and James B Phelps lfave a contract with thegovernment for the performance of this workaud have been of great use here The principal diver appropriately named Waters is so used to this work that he has become almostamphibious remaining for five or six hours at a time under wafer A man of herculean strenth andproportions when clad in his submarine armor ho becomes monstrous in size and appearance A more singular sight than to see him roll or tumble into the water and disappear from sigh tor popping up blowing as the air escapes from his helm like a young whale can scarcely be imagined AVaters has his own ideas of a joke and when he has a curious audience will wave his scraper about as he bobs around on the water with the air of a veritable river god One of his best jokes the better for bein a vcritaoie iact occurred last sum mer While he was employedscraping the hull of one of the monitors a negro from one of the upriverplantations came alongside with aboatload of watermelons While busy selling his melons the diver came up and rested himself on the side of the boat The negro stared at the ex traordinary appearance thus suddenly coming out of the water with alarm ed wonder but when the diver seiz cd ono of the best melons in the boat aud disapeared under the water the gurgling of the air from the helm mixing with the muffled laughter the fright of the negro reached T TT i cinuax nastily seizincr ins oar without waiting to be paid for his melons he put off at his best speed and has not been seen in the vieini ty of Station Creek since Hecannot be tempted beyond the bounds of the plantation and believes that tho Yankees have brought riverdevils to aid them in making war The diver when clothed in hisarmor is weighted with 185 pounds Besides hisajiuor he has two leaden pads fitting to his breast and back Tho soles of his shoes are of lead an inch and a half thick All this weight is needed to overcome the buoyancygivenby the mass ofairforced into the armor and dress the latter of indiarubber worn by the diver When below the surface he caninstantly bring himself up by closing momentarily tho aperture in the helmet for the escape of tho air His buoyancy is immediatelyincreased and he pops up like a cork and floats at will upon the surface The work of scraping the bottoms of the monitors is very arduous The diver sits upon a spar lashed athwart the bottom of the vessel so arranged aa to be moved as the work progresses and with a scraperfixed toaloughandleworksonbothsides of himself as far as lie can reach The mass of oysters that become attached to the iron hulls of one of the monitors even during onesummer here is immense By actual measurement it was estimated that 250 bushels of oysters shells and sea weed were taken from the bottom of the Montauk alone The captains of tho monitors have sometimesindulged in the novelty of a mess ofoysters raised on tho hulls of their own vessels Besides cleaning the monitors the divers penorm other important servi ces They have ransacked theinterior of the Keokuk attached buoys to ltst anchors aud made underwater examinations of the rebelobstructions Waters recentlyexamined the sunken Weehawken and met an unurual danger for oven bis perilous calling The sea was soviolent that ho was twice thrown from tho deck of tho monitorFinally getting hold of the iron ladder he climbed to the top of the turret hen a heavy sea cast him insice the turret between the guns Fear ing that his airhose would become entangled he made his way up with all possible speed and was forced to give up his investigations until calmer weather offered a more favor able opportunity Qorrespondenceof Baltimore American Curses Come Home to Boost A Liverpool publisher has just put forth a pamphlet giving anaccount of The Cruise of theAlabama by one of her officersHonorable Englishmen will read this journal with curious feelings They wilf find that this pirate ship was manned by English sailors as wen as bunt and armed in England they will read that the cowardly crew who sailed her performed no acts of bravery ran no risk but ventured to attack only unarmed and defenceless merchantmen But Eng lishmen may blush when they read further that many of the ships de stroyed by this English pirateunder a slaveholders flaK were laden with grain and bound to England At the time when ships were sent from our ports with corn and flour to relieve the distress in Lancash ire the Alabama was burning and destroying all grainladen ships sbe could find on the ocean Even the writer of this pamphlet seems not to have seen this wanton destruction without compunctions One day the Brilliant of New York was seized she was bound to Liver pool with a valuable cafgo of grain and flour She was burned it seemed says the author of the narativo himself a fearful thing to burn such a cargo as the Brilliant had when I thought how theoperatives in the cotton districts would have danced with ioy had they it hared amongst them But he coolly adds I never saw a vessel burn with sucli brilliancy The Freedmens Village atArlington The object with which thisvillage was established was to gather together and train to usefulemployments within its limits all the fugitive bl cks within the District of Columbia LieutenantColonel Elius Green of the Quartermasters Department first suggested tl e plan to Mr Stanton who ordered him to carry it into effect We learn that there are now at Arlington fourteen dwellings a church a hospital and a home for the aged and infirm The hospital is empty The dwellings twostoried areconstructed in groups of fourunder each roof each bavins two rooms perfectly lighted andventilated a cooking stove a yard and access to a well There are onohundred and thirtyfive children in the school there are workshops in which the men are taught to work as wheelwrights carpenters tailors shoemakers c cutters from New York cut out clothing which is made up by the black women In ninety days one hundred andtwentylive more houses will be ready There is already six abandoned farms under thorough culture the crop of the last season was two hundred tons of hay worth thirty dollars a ton one hundred and ninetyone tons of corn fodder worth twelve dollars a ton a great quanityof potatoes and other vegetables distributed among the hospitals of the department and a crop ot beans and buckwheat were made and secured Ifguerillas had not been permitted to drive in the laborers from the outer farms this harvest would have beendoubled The enterprise has been more than selfsupporting and under the efficient management of Colonel Green the blacks have money in bank A Scotch nobleman seeing an old gardener of his establishment with a very ragged coat made some passing remarks upon its condition Its a verra guid coat said tho honest old man I cannot agree with you there said his lordship Ay its just a verra guid coat persisted the old man it covers a contented spirit and a body that owes no man anything and thats mair than many a man can say of their coat There is a weman in NewEngland so neat that she washes her dishes in nine waters aud boils out on the day before she wishes to use them the strings with which sheintonds to tie the legs of bakedchickens i

County News VOL 4 NO 203 OBERLIN OHIO WEDNESDAY JAN 20 1864 150 TER AMUM B mm county PUBLISHED AT OBEKLIN OHIO BY V A SHANKLAND Terms of Siilciiplioii Ouo Year 150 Six Months Three Mouths 50 BUSINESS DIRECTORY V A S8IArVKlAD Book andJohPrintirand Publi Baildin Oberlin For terms lisoinulton loiirlli page ler 1KeW8 ace aiver l1JN5SE HOUSE norner of Main and Coll Streets O borlin LW Tool Kropn olor Boarding by the day or week COMMERCIAL INSTITUTE iind I mi r X O 1VS Buddies Oberlin O Sou dvennsouiont CALltlNS rrincipal t 15 W A WiiAKi Teachers Sneiiorian practical and oniamon till penmanship Commercial Chirographic Institute Oberlin O t ze Stret Pl iiin anil Snrircon East Colli L3r Lilo and Fire Insurance Agent ROBERTS BAILEY Auonevs and Counsellors at Law Office over Hove Vs slure uunm D hi Roberts O O Bailey Jr Banker Broker and Pension Ageut loCollegc Place Oberlin B PRENTISS Julkc of lic Vnce B ick Pay Boil u tv Pension Collecting and In stirauco Agent ud lour South or Hoveyi Store Oberlin O I M JOHNSON CO Dealers in Dry Goods Groceries Hardware Crockery Produce etc No 1 Merchants Ex haue Main St Oberlin Ohio See Adv KINNEY BEAMIER Doalersin Dry Giods Groceries Crockery Hardware etc On in Ohio See Adv na Straus Dealer in Ready made Jb thing Foreign and ii iw a Cdolis Cassimeros Milli nery Goods Purs Yankee Notions otc See Advertisement c E J iiJIKACU ni Knnls statinnorv Pictures Picture Frames Wall Papur oVc Corner Main and Col legoSlroels OherhnO J M FITCH Bookseller and Stationer and Dealor in Picuros Picture Frames Wall Paper and a ruat variety o f goods suitable to luatrade Oberlin Ohio A 43 PLilT Photographist Third Story corner of Main and College Sts Oberlin H L HENRY Doalerin Drugs Medicines c Oborlin O See Advertisement I HABUNCE Doalerin Druis Medicines c Oborlin O See Advertisement It 83 Urrisl iSt Grocer Main St Oberlin O p Physicians proscriptions eureluliy com pounded J F SlDDALL Union Block Oborlin iJenvist Ohio FRANK HENDRY laler in Clocks Watches Jewelry Musical lilraoieuts s 1 1 i r w are ecwo jnj F nicy China Ware on Union Blook Oberlin O heeau erliseuient lllnrin Clocks Watches J welry Silver Ware Sp los and Fancy Goods ObernH WH IIOVEY Dealer in Groceries Flour Provisions Hard ware C COltlllll rcial Block Oberlin j i AiPSirvaEis Grocer Cnnleti r llealur in Provisions Flour Feed etc c No I Union Block Oberlin A V BSiJiDMIiSi Flour Merchant and Doalerin Groceries and Provisions g lore One Door South Goodrichs Book JOHN BRICE Commission Merchant Tailor and Practical Culler Well in ule Clothing alwayson hand WEED BECKWITH Stoves Tin Slice Iron and Hardware Matn Street Oberlin ItOVlE SBANtOCK M nnfartiuers Dealers ill Ladies and Gents Boots aud Stioes No I Union Block Oberlin WM BAILEY llealorln Boots Shoesaid Hubbors Custom Work made to order Nrlli Main St Oberlin P R TO BIN i tuie and Harness Maker aud Dealer in Trunks Valiws Carpet Ba South Main Street Oberlin horse See advertisement Whips etc i ol tho big JAM Hnpp4 Saddle Trunk sCarnot Dags Hub be r Clothing Buffalo KobestVi Main St Oberlin J I KUStKlilL Moat Market Fresh and Salt Meats Fish fcc Cash for Hides and Polls Main Street Oberlin ISAAC PE N FIELD wmn Made and Repaired and Blacksmith llg to order cor Main and Water at 9 Oberlin C H FAVFI Stablo Keener Has constnntV on hand ttood II rses and Carriages All order lea with him will oe promptly attended to Olllce News Building Main Street Oberlin V V IVJAltliS Livcrv and Boarding Stable A Nol Horses andCarri ie t0 let East Cidleffe St Oberlin S BEDORTHA Maker and doalerin Furniture Readymade Collins Ac South ilain treel Oberlin H EVANS BROTHER Gen iral Uadnrlakers aud Cabinet Makersanil Dealers in Forniuire Obnrliu WATERMAN St PEEK Mnniiiifaelurers of Doom Sash Blinds and roi Work and Builders Oberlin Planing and Shingle Mill tawing donctoorer Soul n Mai n St Obori i n Book Binder tills Clack College StOborln The MotherChurch Br JOHN JAMES PIATT I felt the organ tremor sweet Homeless wilhin iho Sabbath street It whispered low and deep and mild Come home thou weary wandering chile1 Lost in the wilderness and dust Of Pride and Folly and Mistrust Weary and worldsad east away Thy Father calls thee home today Within the churchs portal wide I entered and the muic died Without the organ tremor sweet Within the fierce polemic heat I heard the subtle voice no more Whoso music called me through the door I passed into the woodland air Strange breezes kissed me everywhere Strange birds from out tho boughs above Sang sistersweet to me a dovo Cood close and quiet and her nest Some stiango sweet dove made in my breast When lo 1 the organs whisper mild Come home tltou weary wandering child Weary and worldsad catt away Thy Fathor calls thee homo today I felt the organ tremor sweet The pure flowers kissed my homeless feet And a sweet intluence close and tree Twined arms around me lovingly Lost in the wood alone and there The organs pulses beat the air Till in my heart a voice I caught I am thy Mother long unsought Thou orphan from thine earliest day n the worlds dt less dust astray My arms have waited long for thee Thy Father called thee homo to mo Commonwealth A Letter from Prof Peck Our readers will peruse withinterest the following letter written by Proiessor Peck to the Cleveland Hearld Washington Jan 2 1864 Dear Herald This morning I dispatched a letter to you giving a rambling account of the appearance of things at Portress Monroe aud in Norfolk I propose at this writing to tell you in the same discursive way of what I saw and heard among the Ohio soldiers near Norfolk Late on Thursday afternoon Dec 24th I reached the 5th llegiinent U S Colored Troops which was lying in the entrenched camp about three miles southeast ofNorfolk The 5 til was raised as you know in Ohio Three ot thetaptains are from Cleveland or itsimmediate neighborhood and several of the officers are graduates orstudents of Oberlin College Thisregiment belongs to Gen Wildes Brig ade the rank wholly made aud file of which is up of colored men The 5th is the only regiment in the brigade from the North J he other troops brigaded with it are from among the contrabands of the South The brigade had come in from a Ion and hard raid iuto North Carolina only the afternoon betore I reached the camp of the oth As the story ot this expedition isessential to the continuity of mynarrative let me tell it here Thecountry an irregular parallelogram in shape which is bounded by James river on the North the Atlantic Ocean on the East Albermarle Sound on the South and theDismal Swamp and Elizabeth river on the West is inhabited mainly by rank secessionists manyof whom are wealthy and is or has been the harboring place of pestilentguerrillas who have done much mischief to the iew Union people and to the neighboring lines of Federalcommunications Early in December Gen Butler ordered Wildes brig ade to ko out and regulate this unwholesome region The orders given to Gen Wiklo were explicit and strongly Butlerish lie was to liberate and bring in all the slaves he might find confiscate all the live stock vehicles and fanning utensils of secessionists and hang allguerrillas whom ho should capture The housos barns and stacks ofguerrillas were to be burned The brigade went joyfully to its work For nineteen days it forgot the toils of a desperately hard march and the pains ot sleeping without a rag or a sliver fur shelter so deeply was it engaged in its work olreconstruction and redemption Several times detachments ot tho atli were under fire In one encounter with guerrillas a single company lost five dead and one wounded But inevery case the men behaved likeveterans They formed under fire when they were surprised aseooly as if they were falling iu for drill and scv oral times they charged uponconcealed foes without the least sign of faltering Many of our boys were originally from North Carulina and they mightily enjoyed the privilege of coming back in tho army ofEmancipation On quo occasion au old slave declined going with theliberators unless his mother and his child who were some miles away could go also AccordinglySergcat Grimes was detailed to go with four men and bring her in On the way Grimes learned from his guide just how many slaves and how much live stock there were on theplantation to which he was going When he reached the white house he told the master his errand The master flew into a rane called him all sorts of names and tald him to be off This was too much for Grimes So putting his pistol to Mr Masters head he said You old villain now Ill take every thing youve got so bring on all your people and live Stock or 1 11 blow your brains out Tho threat brought the master ti terms and after night fall when everybody had given up Grimes as lost he came back into camp bring ing thirtyfive contrabands and a long string of horses mules and carts In the course of the raid the de tachment was piloted by a contraband into a swamp where a mile and a half from shore with no path but a r ii l M sinrrle line or ienea trees witu a loufrh waist deep on each side il found a rruerrilla camp The birds had flown from the nest but they left behind a muster roll of the omDanv This roll was an excel lent chart for the raiders and with in three days not a man whose name was on that list had house barn shed or rack left One guerrilla was caritured A court marshal found him guilty and sentenced him to be hung Five minuts were given him to makepreparation for his ond Then he was put on the scaffold Lieut Colonel Shurtleff was asked by theGeneral to make a prayer and us the amen left the Colonels lips the block was knocked from under the fall and the guerrilla hung in midair When the end had come Gen Wilde pinned to the back of the dead man a placard with the inscription This guerrilla was hung by order of Brig Gen ii A Wilde The expedition filled the secesh with terrir and raae One Ohio colored bv was captured by them and it is supposed was murdered on the spot By way of reprisal the wife of the Captain of the guerrilla company was taken prisoner and the Captain was informed under a flag of truce that the lady would suffer tho fate of the boy whatever it might be The Captain replied that the prisoner had been sent to Raleigh but that he should be brought back if it was possible The woman is now in prison in Norfolk and will surely go to the gallows if the boy is not soon accounted for General Butler is determined that thecolored troops under his command shall have the usual military rights at all events He will before long find the hemp which will make the secesh sick of murdering or selling into slavery the men they capture from him The expedition captured one thousand horses and mulesconfiscated miles of wagons and carts ami liberated Iwenlyfice hundred slaves The trip made without baggage wagons and tents and with but few blankets was a severe trial to the men But tho test was borne well Old officers who belonged to theexpedition said that white troops could not have endured the hardships bet ter Still there was an observabl di flo re nee between the regiments Tho msa from the North showed both on the road nd in the field better qualities than those exhibited by their contraband kindred My visit to the camp came just in the right time I was able arriving as I did to see the men while the marks of hardship were on them and to brins from homo the word of cheev ard encouragement which they needed Col Conine ordered the companies out aud a3 they stood iu hollow square with their colors in the center I made a short address to them In the name of the people and Goveuor of the State I thanked them for what they had done I told them that those hardships and this heroic service were not onlyadvancing the cause of the State but were doing what hardly anything else could to lift up the race to which so many of them belonged Ibesought them to be true to themselves and to allow their colors now so beautiful to bo tarnished by nodishonor and assured them that should they come back to Ohio with their whole record so honorable as its first chapter had been they would have welcome of which the noblest might well be proud At the close m recognition of what I had said as to Gov Todsinterest in the regiment tho colors waved a salute rolling off from the irumsand three cheers for the Gov enor went to the skies Ah Herald how quickly the happy scene carried my thoughts back to that glad morning when over the hill which overlooked the Kanawha gave for the people of the Reserve the colors to the grand old Seventh how swiftly I was hurried down the current of that history which has Winchester Port Repub lie Cedar Mountain Chancellorsville Antietam Gettysburg and Ilinggold for its way marks to that sad end when tho scarred lew which were left of the regiment sent its leaders home for burial I said in my heart alas shall two short years see these ranks thinned to an hundred and these colors rent by the storm ofbattle hung in mourning above thecoffins of their chivalrous leaders The next day I went through the regiment and in the little huts herd the men tell of their trials and achievements and told them what I noped for from them Perhaps I err but I cannot but believe that theintercourse inppired in many hearts sentiments which will lona abide and bo useful On the Sabdath I held public ser vice in the camp and I doubt if any regiment ever turned out creater proportion of hearers or if any hearers were ever more atten tive I had in my congregation be sides the officers and men of the 5th detachment from the 55th Massa ehasetts feolored in which were many Ohio boys connected with New York battery After service the battery boys came forward and we had a crood talk about the dear old State far away A brother could nothavehad kind er treatment than I had in the quar ters of the officers of the 5th Long shall I remember the cheery chats by the cozy lightwood fires and the pleasant callops over the sandyVirginia roads By the way Herald even my old pupils kept calling mo Colonel Probably the lapsus linguae was the natural result of my riding so much as I did with a military spur on my heel Adjutant Grabills caparisoned horse Aud here I make the prophecy that the 5th colored thouarh its men are will be one of the retriments of which Ohio will be most proud Ifj the prophecy fails it will be because for oneo good officers and good men do not ensure good deeds I spent the most of Monday with a company of Ohio men which is incorporated in the 11th PennCavalry The men are from Crawford Wyandotte Meigs and Gallia They arc stout honest fellows and arc a credit to our State I wish you could have seen how comfortable the shrewd chaps have madethemselves in their snug winter quarters I would not like to guess how many houses conservatories o the rogues had plundered to givethemrelves good shelter Such computa tions are not in place ou the front of war I must not end the story of my visit to the camp without speaking of the beautiful little church which the Chaplain had caused to beorccted The structure was built wholly of poles and shooks There vras not ja piece of sawed timber in it except tho doors aDd sash oven the sash were made of pieces of cracker box es But the rude materials were disposed with such artistic skill that the effect was most striking There is not a Gothic place of prayer on Euclid or Prospect street which would invite much longer study I am only sorry that the chaplain had provided sittings for only an hundred and fifty men The suggestion that the ballanee of tho twelve hundred normally in tho regiment did not feel the need of worship was rather painful But I venture to hope that the Ohio boys are a reliable part of the chaplains staunch one hundred and fifty As I went to and from the camp of tho 11th I passed a score of the little two wheeled carts which are the universal family vehicles of the country In several of them a single ox was harnessed With one of these single teams we had quite a race The young contraband who was driving the horned horse seemed determined not to have even a Government team pass him si he put on the whijs and his cudchewing steed got into a fair gallop But it was of no avail our uags soon put the inspiring rival into the rear Old times said I to myself you are not smart enough The new will lead you And Herald is not the new life of the country with its freedom and improvement fast distancing the old with its slavery and deterioration Think of it and olbige Yours truly II E PECK The Divers with our Fleet Charleston During a recent visit to Port lloyal I witnessed withconsiderable interest the operation of thedivers employed to clean the bottoms of the monitors and perform other operations under water Messrs Joseph II Smith and James B Phelps lfave a contract with thegovernment for the performance of this workaud have been of great use here The principal diver appropriately named Waters is so used to this work that he has become almostamphibious remaining for five or six hours at a time under wafer A man of herculean strenth andproportions when clad in his submarine armor ho becomes monstrous in size and appearance A more singular sight than to see him roll or tumble into the water and disappear from sigh tor popping up blowing as the air escapes from his helm like a young whale can scarcely be imagined AVaters has his own ideas of a joke and when he has a curious audience will wave his scraper about as he bobs around on the water with the air of a veritable river god One of his best jokes the better for bein a vcritaoie iact occurred last sum mer While he was employedscraping the hull of one of the monitors a negro from one of the upriverplantations came alongside with aboatload of watermelons While busy selling his melons the diver came up and rested himself on the side of the boat The negro stared at the ex traordinary appearance thus suddenly coming out of the water with alarm ed wonder but when the diver seiz cd ono of the best melons in the boat aud disapeared under the water the gurgling of the air from the helm mixing with the muffled laughter the fright of the negro reached T TT i cinuax nastily seizincr ins oar without waiting to be paid for his melons he put off at his best speed and has not been seen in the vieini ty of Station Creek since Hecannot be tempted beyond the bounds of the plantation and believes that tho Yankees have brought riverdevils to aid them in making war The diver when clothed in hisarmor is weighted with 185 pounds Besides hisajiuor he has two leaden pads fitting to his breast and back Tho soles of his shoes are of lead an inch and a half thick All this weight is needed to overcome the buoyancygivenby the mass ofairforced into the armor and dress the latter of indiarubber worn by the diver When below the surface he caninstantly bring himself up by closing momentarily tho aperture in the helmet for the escape of tho air His buoyancy is immediatelyincreased and he pops up like a cork and floats at will upon the surface The work of scraping the bottoms of the monitors is very arduous The diver sits upon a spar lashed athwart the bottom of the vessel so arranged aa to be moved as the work progresses and with a scraperfixed toaloughandleworksonbothsides of himself as far as lie can reach The mass of oysters that become attached to the iron hulls of one of the monitors even during onesummer here is immense By actual measurement it was estimated that 250 bushels of oysters shells and sea weed were taken from the bottom of the Montauk alone The captains of tho monitors have sometimesindulged in the novelty of a mess ofoysters raised on tho hulls of their own vessels Besides cleaning the monitors the divers penorm other important servi ces They have ransacked theinterior of the Keokuk attached buoys to ltst anchors aud made underwater examinations of the rebelobstructions Waters recentlyexamined the sunken Weehawken and met an unurual danger for oven bis perilous calling The sea was soviolent that ho was twice thrown from tho deck of tho monitorFinally getting hold of the iron ladder he climbed to the top of the turret hen a heavy sea cast him insice the turret between the guns Fear ing that his airhose would become entangled he made his way up with all possible speed and was forced to give up his investigations until calmer weather offered a more favor able opportunity Qorrespondenceof Baltimore American Curses Come Home to Boost A Liverpool publisher has just put forth a pamphlet giving anaccount of The Cruise of theAlabama by one of her officersHonorable Englishmen will read this journal with curious feelings They wilf find that this pirate ship was manned by English sailors as wen as bunt and armed in England they will read that the cowardly crew who sailed her performed no acts of bravery ran no risk but ventured to attack only unarmed and defenceless merchantmen But Eng lishmen may blush when they read further that many of the ships de stroyed by this English pirateunder a slaveholders flaK were laden with grain and bound to England At the time when ships were sent from our ports with corn and flour to relieve the distress in Lancash ire the Alabama was burning and destroying all grainladen ships sbe could find on the ocean Even the writer of this pamphlet seems not to have seen this wanton destruction without compunctions One day the Brilliant of New York was seized she was bound to Liver pool with a valuable cafgo of grain and flour She was burned it seemed says the author of the narativo himself a fearful thing to burn such a cargo as the Brilliant had when I thought how theoperatives in the cotton districts would have danced with ioy had they it hared amongst them But he coolly adds I never saw a vessel burn with sucli brilliancy The Freedmens Village atArlington The object with which thisvillage was established was to gather together and train to usefulemployments within its limits all the fugitive bl cks within the District of Columbia LieutenantColonel Elius Green of the Quartermasters Department first suggested tl e plan to Mr Stanton who ordered him to carry it into effect We learn that there are now at Arlington fourteen dwellings a church a hospital and a home for the aged and infirm The hospital is empty The dwellings twostoried areconstructed in groups of fourunder each roof each bavins two rooms perfectly lighted andventilated a cooking stove a yard and access to a well There are onohundred and thirtyfive children in the school there are workshops in which the men are taught to work as wheelwrights carpenters tailors shoemakers c cutters from New York cut out clothing which is made up by the black women In ninety days one hundred andtwentylive more houses will be ready There is already six abandoned farms under thorough culture the crop of the last season was two hundred tons of hay worth thirty dollars a ton one hundred and ninetyone tons of corn fodder worth twelve dollars a ton a great quanityof potatoes and other vegetables distributed among the hospitals of the department and a crop ot beans and buckwheat were made and secured Ifguerillas had not been permitted to drive in the laborers from the outer farms this harvest would have beendoubled The enterprise has been more than selfsupporting and under the efficient management of Colonel Green the blacks have money in bank A Scotch nobleman seeing an old gardener of his establishment with a very ragged coat made some passing remarks upon its condition Its a verra guid coat said tho honest old man I cannot agree with you there said his lordship Ay its just a verra guid coat persisted the old man it covers a contented spirit and a body that owes no man anything and thats mair than many a man can say of their coat There is a weman in NewEngland so neat that she washes her dishes in nine waters aud boils out on the day before she wishes to use them the strings with which sheintonds to tie the legs of bakedchickens i